Hello 2021, Good Riddance 2020

Welcome 2021.  May you be a damned sight better than the past year.  2020 can now be relegated as hindsight, a lesson in what not to do.

Happy New Years!

December Already?

Wow, where did the time go?  My last post was in September.  Time for some catching up.

First, I'm still alive.

October came and went.  I ordered 1.8kg of spearmint leaves candy, mostly for use during NaNoWriMo.  There's still half a box left.

November was NaNo.  I wound up going with Total Security Concepts, which is now set in the Subject 13 universe.  Total words was 50 262.  What I'm finding is that I can write at a decent pace, 2000 to 2500 words a night, provided I have time off to recharge.  This matches up with my writing for Lost in Translation, where it takes me two days to write a 1500 word review.  I up my game for NaNo, and I've figured out how to pacce myself for the marathon.

Total Security Concepts began as a look at how normal people in a world of superpowers defend themselves.  It then turned into a murder mystery that included corporate meetings.  One character went from just having a superheroic ID to being lead investigator.  It was fun writing the story just to see where it went.  The result is satisfying but will need a bit of time to congeal before I serialize it here.

Sneak peak of the minis
to come, with the
bulette.

Miniatures painting fell to the wayside.  NaNo doesn't really leave time for anything extra, especially when work is still a thing.  Work is still going, so here's hoping I get through to two years on the current contract.  My main goal with work is to get to the two year mark.  After that, I'll feel better.  I won't be changing unless something permanent or interesting comes up.  For interesting, this contract got back to me before a potential six month contract in Iqaluit, Nunavut had.  I would've jumped on the Iqaluit contract, especially with its potential for an extension.  It'd be different.

Lost in Translation is still going strong.  The pandemic prevents one of my main methods of looking for review fodder - checking the rows of DVDs at the music store.  I may have a secondary method, but it's going to need refining.  I have five potential reviews for the new year, once the end-of-year posts are done.  There may be news related to Lost in Translation coming up in the New Year.  Stay tuned.

Coming up, more Lost in Translation, possibly a serial in January, and hopefully some gaming posts.  I want to get a comparison of Cyberpunk 2020 and Shadowrun characters done.  I also want to create a character or two for Shadowrun Sixth World.  Maybe during some down time during the holidays.  Minis will get finished at some point.

Today, over at Psycho Drive-In, Quantum Leap - "A Leap to Di For".

Saturday, over at The Seventh Sanctum, Wrapping up 2020

Brace Yourself - NaNo Is Coming

It's been some time.  Somehow, March has become September.  Summer existed and it was hot but, well, time has ceased to have meaning.  Autumn is coming, when trees become colourful and stop having sex.  With autumn comes November, and with November comes NaNoWriMo.

I have no idea what I'm writing.

That's not new for me.  I usually have a few ideas on the go that I could just pick up and run with.  This summer, though, the creativity is just out of reach.  No worries, I can make this work.  I do have a few ideas, though.

Prohibition, Corruption, and Repeating History

Over the past couple of months, I'd been reviewing the various works based on The Untouchables, the team of Prohibition agents gathered by Eliot Ness to take down Al Capone and his South Side Gang.  One thing that kept popping out, whether it was from the 1959 series, the 1987 movie, or the 1993 syndicated series - the biggest problem of the era was corruption, not alcohol.

This is going to be my impression of events, past and current.  I may have things wrong.  The source of the problem was lawlessness, but the problem was money.  It's a problem that's still around, maybe worse today.  Time to dig deeper.

Test Run - Demon Hunters: A Comedy of Errors - Demona

 A couple of years ago, I created Demona using the Demon Hunters RPG.  I mentioned that I wanted to get the more recent version of the game.  Well, I have the most recent version.  Let's see how Demona looks in the new edition, Demon Hunters: A Comedy of Errors.

The quick summary of the settings and idea behind the game - players are Demon Hunters, members of the Brotherhood of the Celestial Torch, whose job it is to go out and slay demons and other threats to humanity.  Some members of the Brotherhood are supernatural, including those who could be considered threats to humanity.  The Brotherhood sends out teams of Demon Hunters to contain and eliminate the threats.  Sometimes, it may take sending another team to clean up the remains of the first.  More details can be found in the original Demon Hunters, the follow up Demon Hunters: Dead Camper Lake, and the Brotherhood Orientation Video.

Let's rebuild Demona!

Shadowrun Thoughts - Mr. Johnson and Chronic Backstabbing Syndrome

It's been quiet around here.  I hate summer.  And record heat and humidity.  It makes doing anything difficult, even thinking.  The heat and humidity just drain you of energy.  Summer sucks.

On to the meat of the post.  A recent thread over at RPG.net, "The worse tropes in modules/scenarios that new writers should really avoid", had me thinking.  Shadowrun and, to a lesser degree, Cyberpunk 2020, especially in published adventures, tended to have the PCs betrayed by their employer in one way or another.  It's not as bad as it used to be, but after the first betrayal, the players aren't going to trust anyone who hires them.  This is a problem.

Painting Minis - Modron Part I

Finally found some sliver of time to get back to painting.  The past bit has been either busy or oppressively hot.  With a break in the heat, I started the modron.  Since this is pic heavy, the post will continue after the jump break.